Home > Consumer Reviews > Celestron Nexstar 60GT 60mm Go-To Refractor Telescope

I have owned both reflector and refractor scopes over the years. Unfortunately, they were always cheap store models. This is my first real telescope! The optics are great but the hand held control is awesome!! It is so nice not having to loosen and tighten things to center on objects. It was easy to sight in and it centered M-31 (Adromeda Galaxy) on the 1st try!! I really love the finder scope system also. I centered it during the day and when I went out that 1st night, it worked like a charm. If you have owned alot of cheap telescopes this thing will make you feel like your in heaven!!

The Nexstar 60GT is a very good scope for the money you get it complete with tripod, eyepieces, and of course the Telescope. It takes very little time to assemble only about Ten minuets. When I first used the scope I aimed it at the moon, the views were wonderful, if you focus the scope very well you can actualy see the meteroites inside the craters. After I was done looking at the moon I told the scope to goto Venus. Venus was in its almost half phase and was visible on the High Power eyepice and when focused properly. This telescope is very well constructed and the "go-to" feature is as easy as 123.

This being my first telescope I am pretty happy with this model.. Using the hand control to goto a specific Star/Planet is SOooo Sweet,, and once you are on your specific target it will "track" and follow so you don't have to constantly move the telescope to compensate for the earths movement..etc.... The built in motors are pretty fast and doesn't take long to get to a new target.... Also you can hook up your computer to the handheld and control the telescope via a laptop!!... The kit does not include the computer cable or an ac adapter to power the telescope, which I would recommend.
The software that comes with the unit is ok - allowing you to see on a computer - what you should be seeing in the sky...

I have always wanted a telescope and when Mars was beginning to approach it's closest distance to earth in 2200+ years, I didn't want to wait 2 more millennia to get one. Amazon delivered the scope just in time for me to view The Red Planet at its closest distance in history.

I must say that the viewing was anti-climactic... but not due to the telescope's failings. At its closest, Mars looked like an orange dot with a white dot near the polar cap - fairly flat in appearance. About a week later, when Mars was still relatively close, I went to a public viewing at the Observatory at UNT in Denton, TX. I got to look through a telescope that was so large, it could use this Celestron as a q-tip. :-)

It was then that I realized how good m Celestron was - because the viewing at the observatory looked the same as it did with my new, inexpensive telescope!

Wee!

The moon is absolutely breath-taking, especially with the included moon filter that helps the craters to "pop" with clarity.

My less than perfect rating is due to the fact that the included software is for Windows-only. This is frankly inexcusable. There is no reason that the same software could not be made for the Mac platform, especially since Mac OS 10.x is Linux based.

Also annoying is the lack of a built-in compass and bubble level. I bought a compass and lined my scope due north and bought a carpenter's level to make sure it was level. I then punched in the date, time and time zone and gave the command for the telescope to auto-calibrate. The motor impressively hummed as the scope automatically turned to find Polaris... but couldn't find it. Then it tried to find another star, and couldn't find that, either.

The instructions read like you have just completed a college-level astronomy course (which I have not), so the neophyte will be confused by many of the instructions.

With the help of some online web sites, I got some helpful hints that made the use of the scope to be easier.

I know that the stars are millions of miles away, but they really don't look any different through the telescope than they do with the naked eye.

I wish there was an angle viewer for the laser alignment scope... when you're looking at objects that are right above you, you've got to get into a yoga position to line up the spot scope.

The tripod folds up easily, as long as you don't attach the storage triangle below the scope.

The battery pack design is totally bizarre. If you want to easily transport the tripod from location to location and opt not to install the storage triangle, there is no where to put the battery pack unless you precariously hang it on the top of one of the tripod legs - and it's way too easy for the cords to get tangled up as you move the telescope from object to object in the night sky.

The clip that holds the hand controller is also less than impressive. Any jarring of the tripod and the controller goes flying. The phone-jack like connectors should have had swivels installed so that when you turn the scope the controller doesn't get tangled with the power cord to the battery pack.

Also annoying is the fact that the AC adapter is not included, so you have to keep fresh batteries on hand.

The spotting scope has a cool laser-like light to help you spot an obect easily before zooming in w/ the compounded lenses - but the battery that operates that scope is not changeable - when it dies (estimated time is 10 years), it's dead and all you can do is either live without it or buy a new telescope.

For someone who is totally clueless like me, but still wants to view the night sky, this is a very affordable way to get into a rewarding hobby. Obviously, though, you get what you pay for and the serious astronomer should get the most power they can afford to reap the biggest rewards.

At least I'm a beginner and I'm enjoying it. Very easy to set up and to get aligned. Finds things pretty well with the hand control. Mars looks good, shows some surface detail and the ice cap. The moon looks truely awesome.
I haven't seen any of the deep sky stuff yet, but I haven't yet taken it out into the country for real darkness.
It is a beginner unt though and I already know I'll have to spend much more money on a better one in the next year or so.

One suggestion, I found the two star alignment easier to use and more accurate than the auto alignment. Maybe I was doing something wrong, I dunno.